Town could run out of burial plots in seven years

A town could run out of its burial plots within seven and a half years, a council has warned, with residents facing a significant rise in council tax if a new site is acquired.

Ledbury's cemetery is 96% full, according to a report from its town council, which could result in people being buried 15 miles away in Hereford if new plots are not found.

Councillor Ewen Sinclair told the BBC: "I don't really think people have much choice. Unfortunately the land is running out.

"As much as it's a bitter pill to swallow, people have to accept it."

The town council's report into the matter claimed there was "very little land currently available in or around Ledbury, of a suitable size" to accommodate a new cemetery, which could cost up to £790,000.

Mr Sinclair said acquiring a new burial site would add a huge amount of money to taxpayers' bills, with the council stressing that a government grant was not an option.

As the council encourages people to opt for cremations instead of being buried, a working group has been set up to look at the matter in more detail.

However, the group has been told that the authority does not have a legal obligation to bury people, and that as it stands all future burials would be automatically directed to Hereford.

One local resident told the BBC: "If your family's buried here and you want to be buried here as well, it's going to be really hard to have you over in Hereford, but if there's no space there's no space.

"What can they do? It's hard."

Other cemeteries across the region with a few years of burial space left include Bromyard, which has between one and five years of space left, and Redditch, which has about five years of space left.

Ross-on-Wye has 10 years of space left but has plans to extend, while Hereford has 20 to 25 years of space left.